


A World of Our Own

by JessicaEBoswell



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-09-17 11:48:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 948
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9322253
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JessicaEBoswell/pseuds/JessicaEBoswell
Summary: Victor and Yuri try pair skating (set way before episode 12)





	

Yuri circled the edge of the rink, the music playing through the speakers and ringing in his ears. He tried to focus on the gentle beats, to pass the music through each and every moment in his body, but it was proving to be more difficult than he thought.

As he leapt into the air, the instant realisation that there wasn’t enough height in his jump to complete three turns hit him, and his triple quickly turned into a double. Landing with a frustrated sigh, he glided to a halt and turned to Victor, hoping that he’d be able to give him some advice, but to his disappointment the Russian simply glared at him, his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes icy and cold.

“I can’t concentrate when you’re staring at me like that,” Yuri commented, skating over to his coach and letting out an irritated breath.

“What would you like me to do, Yuri?” Victor inquired, the monotone in his voice accompanied by a raised eyebrow. “Look away?”

Yuri instantly shook his head; he wanted Victor to watch him, to find something that nobody else could in the way that he moved. What he didn’t want was for him to look at him as though he’d already failed. “No, I just…” He bit his lip and looked down at the rink beneath his skates, wishing he’d never said anything now, but with Victor’s piercing gaze constantly fixed on him, it was difficult to breathe, never mind dance.

Victor tilted his head and regarded the younger man, his finger tapping his chin in thought. “I want to try something,” he decided, stepping out onto the rink.

For the first time since the training session had begun, Yuri realised that Victor had his skates on, the metal making tiny clinks on the ice before he settled into a steady slide.

“Have you ever tried pair skating?” he asked as Yuri approached him and tentatively took his outstretched hands.

“A little. I’ve never been any good at it though.”

Victor gave him a nod in understanding and began leading him slowly around the rink, taking his time with each and every movement. “Sometimes you just need the right person to react to,” he said encouragingly. “Skating is nothing but moving from one end of a rink to the other without emotion, without a reaction to a feeling. It’s what lingers in every dancer, a passion that wants to burst free. Sometimes all it takes is the right person, the right feeling, to release it.”

Yuri swallowed the rising lump in his throat and gave his coach his full attention, his hands still firmly held and his heart pounding in his chest.

“Now, Yuri,” Victor said, a mischievous smirk slipping across his lips and his voice lowering to a tempting whisper. “React.” Without warning, he span him under his arm, catching him when he momentarily stumbled. “Look at me,” he told him once he’d had regained his balance again.

Yuri looked up, straight into the bright, adoring eyes of Victor Nikiforov, and felt his cheeks beginning to colour, all of the warmth in his body shifting to his face. He didn’t look disappointed anymore; if anything he looked rather pleased.

“Everything I do, react to it,” Victor instructed. “You don’t have to do the same thing, just what you feel is most natural.”

“Okay,” Yuri agreed, taking in a deep breath and giving the task in hand his full attention.

The two circled the rink a few times, getting accustomed to the other’s movements before Victor decided to shake things up.

At first it was only subtle shifts and sways that Yuri could quickly react to, mirroring his coach and keeping up with each graceful step, but as he sped up it became more and more difficult to respond. _No,_ he thought to himself, concentrating too much on everything that Victor was doing. _Pair skating is like a conversation, a story being told. You don’t need to mimic, you need to reply._

He watched Victor a little more before he let go of his hands, spinning around him until he was facing the opposite direction, and skating backwards as they reversed their positions.

Once he’d gotten used to it, to the silent conversation going on between them, it was much easier to react naturally, Victor moving and then Yuri responding, the two elaborating each step as they continued their dance.

For a time there was nobody else. It was just them and the sound of their skates sliding elegantly across the ice as they communicated in complete silence, but eventually it came to a steady stop, Victor slowing down and Yuri following in suit, and the world returning around them.  

“Much better. I think you’re finally beginning to realise that the music doesn’t really come from up there,” Victor panted, pointing to the speaker mounted high up on the wall, “but from in here.” He placed his hand on Yuri’s chest and felt the flurried thrums of his heart as it pounded against his fingertips. “Your emotions are the most important thing you have. A skater may be talented, they may be able to perfect every technique in the book, but if they cannot feel the music, if they can not release the song in their heart, then they are simply performing one trick after another.” He grinned from ear to ear and patted Yuri’s shoulder affectionately before he skated back to the railing around the rink, grabbing a bottle of water and drinking deep.

Yuri let out a long breath and watched him, finally feeling like he understood not just how to perform, but how to really dance.


End file.
